The Great Figure

William Carlos Williams

Among the rain
and lights
I saw the figure 5
in gold
on a red
fire truck
moving
tense
unheeded
to gong clangs
siren howls
and wheels rumbling
through the dark city

Charles Henry Demuth (1883-1935), I Saw the Figure Five in Gold

Oil on board, approximately 30 inches x 36 inches. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.


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